Boston High School: Troy Donahue

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - It had not been his strongest game of the season, but in the final minute with his team leading by just a single goal, Franklin senior goalie Devon Maloof made the play that saved the game. His instant reaction allowed him to get a toe to a blast from the point and preserve the Franklin lead.

“He had a huge save at the end,” said Mansfield head coach Rick Anastos about Maloof. “That kick-out save…that was a goal from where we were.”

The save helped Franklin (7-4-1, 5-0-1) hold on for a 3-2 victory over the Hornets (9-2-1, 6-1-1) on Wednesday night in front of a packed house at the Foxboro Sports Center.

The win propels the Panthers to the top of the Kelley-Rex division and a step closer to another Hockomock League title.

Franklin head coach Chris Spillane reflected, “That’s what we expected for it to be -- a rough, physical game that’s back-and-forth. I’m glad to get this one behind us. It’s Mansfield-Franklin, that’s a typical game.”

He added, “You hate to say that it’s the one that you mark at the beginning of the season but we’ve been looking at it for a while and we’re glad to have it behind us and that it ended up in our favor.

The Panthers looked shaky in the opening couple of shifts, but Mansfield penalties allowed Franklin to settle down on the power play and led to dominating first period in which Franklin outshot the Hornets 15-4.

Senior Vince Geromini opened the scoring for Franklin with 7:28 remaining in the first period. He was on hand to follow up after Troy Donahue drove to the net and had his shot saved by Mansfield goalie Dan Moyer. Nearly two minutes later, Franklin scored again and this time on the power play (Mansfield took four first period penalties). Junior Alec Borkowski buried the shot that doubled the lead.

“The first couple of shifts were pretty shaky, but the rest of the first period we pretty much dominated and I think it was our speed causing them to take penalties,” said Spillane.

Anastos could only shake his head at the penalties that allowed Franklin to gain momentum in the first period.

“Penalties kill us,” he insisted. “You can’t give them power plays; you can’t give a good team the opportunity to score. They only scored one power play goal, but you can’t give them that many chances.”

In the second period, Anastos got the reaction that he was looking for from his team. The Hornets bounced back and started hitting in the second and gained the momentum. Junior defenseman Evan Kershaw made it a game again with a blast from the point that eluded Maloof and made it 2-1. Sophomore Pat Graham tied it with 2:59 left in the period on a low shot to the near post on a two on one.

“I think we got a little comfortable with a two-goal lead coming out in the second period and they jumped on it,” explained Spillane. “They were aggressive, they had a two-man forecheck, and they were throwing pucks at the net and they went in.”

The Hornets were not level for long though as a minute after Graham’s goal, Franklin broke for a three-on-one, odd-man rush. Geromini turned provider with a perfectly placed pass across the crease for Donahue to tap in for what turned out to be the game-winner.

Anastos noted, “We let up a three on one just a minute after tying the game and that killed us. It was a sinker. They won the first period, we won the second period, and it was a tie in the third period -- they just got one more goal.”

Spillane praised his senior leadership for coming up big in a huge rivalry game, especially after Mansfield seemed on the verge of taking control.

“[Mansfield was] building on it and they had all the momentum so it was good,” he said. “Our seniors stepped up today. Vince Geromini had a goal and an assist and then Troy [Donahue] had a nice goal. We need those guys.”

The second and third periods were evenly matched and both goalies came up with big saves. Moyer stuffed Franklin’s leading scorer Ryan Spillane from point-blank range and then just a minute later Maloof did the same to Billy Grant. Then with a minute to go, Maloof pulled off his kick save and set off celebrations on the Franklin bench.

Unfortunately, the celebrations turned into more with both teams coming together against the far boards after the final whistle and having to be separated by coaches and officials. The referees pushed both teams off the ice and scrapped the traditional postgame handshake to avoid further trouble.

Breakdown: It is perhaps the most predictable of all of Sunday’s matchups and the most anticipated. The Dragons and Clippers renew a burgeoning rivalry, intensified by last year’s duel at the Garden and invigorated by the fact that either team’s lone loss of the season was handed to them by the other. Duxbury has been playing lockdown defense throughout the playoffs and haven’t allowed a goal in more than six games, including the regular season. The Clippers’ young corps will look to get over the hump, building on a bittersweet experience on the Bruins’ home ice sheet one year ago.

X-factor: Scavotto. As dominant as Duxbury’s defense has been in front of and including Myette, the Clippers are capable of the same. And their sophomore netminder is a big reason why. She could steal one.

Breakdown: The Catholic Central rivals meet for the second straight year on championship Sunday and, like their Div. 2 counterparts, also split their season series at a game apiece. Behind the benches, both the Spatans’ Frank Pagliuca and the Cougars’ Maggie Taverna have done work worthy of Coach of the Year honors. St. Mary’s has the feel of a team of destiny, neither a short bench nor nagging injuries all season long have kept the Spartans from returning to the biggest stage, all while dispatching No. 1 Woburn in the process.

X-factor: Rossini. You’d be hard pressed to find a young player in recent memory who has scored more clutch playoff goals than the AC sophomore.

Breakdown: The Big Blue took down defending D3 finalist and South sectional champion Medway (thanks to an OT goal from Maercklein) to advance to the program’s first title game appearance. Westfield returns to the Garden ice after a one-year hiatus after taking a scorched-earth policy to Western Mass. competition, while averaging more than 5.5 goals per game.

X-factor: Swampscott freshman goaltender Tristan Bradley. The first-year backstop has been a key element to the Big Blue’s success, maintaining a 91.5 save percentage through the season.

Breakdown: The third of six rematches on the day, after the Wildcats claimed a 3-2 victory over Franklin a year ago on championship Sunday, propelled by a hat trick from Owens. The Panthers will be looking to avoid their third straight fruitless trip to the Garden, having dropped title tilts with Wilmington and Tewksbury. The Wildcats, who had Super 8 aspirations until late in the season, are eying their second straight title.

X-factor: McDonough. He’s been the break-out performer of the tournament and provides a great complement to Owens on Wilmington’s top line.

Breakdown: While this isn’t another rematch, these teams are no strangers to this stage, with the Red Devils and Rams representing as the last two Div. 1 state champions. Both teams were near .500 squads through the first month of the season, and closed their regular-season slates with momentum they’ve carried over into the playoffs. Both these teams can skate with the best of them, but they also pay attention to the little things in the defensive zone as well.

X-factor: Crowley. I’d expect a defensive struggle in this one and so I’m going with the Red Devils’ blue-liner who always makes his presence felt.

Breakdown: AP, while short on years, is not short on talent. I think we all knew coming into this season that they were capable of reaching this stage, but it might have been a question of when. The Cougars earned their way to Sunday after dispatching town rival Reading and then No. 1 seed St. John’s Prep in Wednesday’s semifinal. It seems like years ago since there was a time when the Lancers were in jeopardy of missing the tournament all together, but they’ve played the best hockey in the state during the last month.

X-factor: Nazarian. It’s his tournament, the rest of us are just living in it.

Coyle head coach David Borges noted that the tournament, which was named in honor of former Warriors coach Joe Quinn, who passed away this summer, meant a lot more to the Coyle program than just the chance to play good teams.

“The guys that played for him can’t say enough about how much he gave of his time, his money… it means a lot to us,” Borges said. “These guys [the current Coyle team], even though they haven’t been around him, we’ve tried to convey the history of Coyle hockey and they wanted to win for Joe tonight.”

Quinn was the head coach of Coyle for 35 years and won 11 division titles during his tenure, before stepping down in 2005. He founded the program and financially supported it while coach.

“He owned the shirt on my back when I played here,” Borges said.

Coyle (13-4-1) rallied to earn an overtime win over Canton (14-3-2) in the nightcap.

But, until the game-tying goal went in, the Bulldogs were dominating. This is the time of year when one mistake or one slip can turn a game around and send a team home and the Bulldogs saw that firsthand in 3-2 loss.

Leading 2-1 in the third period, Canton’s top line created four great scoring opportunities, but failed to finish any of them.

First, senior captain Pat Ward had the puck roll off his stick in front of an open net after slipping past two Coyle defenders. Then leading scorer Brian Brooks missed short side on a breakaway chance. Minutes later, Ward rifled a shot off the post. Finally, senior Michael Denehy had his one-timer in the slot saved by Warriors goalie Brent Petrowski.

Coyle made Canton pay with 4:13 left in the third period. Senior captain Ryan Jones flicked a pass from behind the net to a wide open Greg DiBona and the senior forward roofed his backhand to make it 2-2. Coyle had chances to win it in regulation but Canton goalie Rich Nee made several great stops to send it to overtime.

In the overtime, both goalies were tested before a slip by Bulldogs senior defenseman Stephen Mullaney gave Coyle an opening. Nick Cambria fired in a wrister just under the crossbar to win the game for the Warriors.

“We sensed desperation down 2-1, but once we scored that goal, we had the confidence that we could keep doing that,” Borges said about changing his team’s approach in the third period from carrying the puck to chipping it in deep. “That’s a great Canton team. They’re disciplined, they work hard, and they make you earn every inch of the ice.”

As far as the MIAA is concerned, the game finished in a 2-2 tie. This is the second consecutive game that Canton has allowed a third-period lead slip to a D2 tournament team.

That is a pattern that head coach Brian Shuman is working hard to change.

“I think one of the things that we have to learn is when we don’t get our scoring opportunities, or when we miss our chances, that we still have to pick up defensively,” he explained. “What you saw there was guys get frustrated that they couldn’t bury the puck and they lose their defensive responsibility. We’ve got to figure out a way to close out games.”

Jones had the opening goal of the game for Coyle on an assist from DiBona. Ward scored twice in the opening period, including a blistering slapshot into the top corner, to give Canton the lead which the Bulldogs held until the final period.

BOSTON LATIN 2, FRANKLIN 1

The cliché says, “You can’t score if you don’t shoot.”

That was especially true for Boston Latin (10-6-3), which had two deflected goals in its 2-1 win over Franklin (13-6-2) in the tournament opener.

The opening goal came with 5:28 remaining in the first period as defenseman Brian Forgione carried the puck into the attacking zone. The senior had few options so he fired a shot at Franklin goalie Devon Maloof. The puck ricocheted off the post and off the goaltender to make it 1-0.

Following a Troy Donahue short-handed goal that tied the game at 1-1, Wolfpack forward Greg Penella turned and fired a hopeful shot towards the Panthers net. The puck deflected off the skate of a Franklin player and past Maloof to make it 2-1.

Boston Latin head coach Frank Woods admitted after the game that these are the types of goals that his team has to score to be successful.

“That’s how we score,” he said. “We don’t have a very skilled team this year. We have a bunch of kids that work hard and we preach put the puck on net and go get the ugly goals or bang in a rebound.”

Despite trailing by a goal, Franklin was outshot in the third period, 12-2, and Panthers head coach Chris Spillane was disappointed that there was no reaction from his team to get back into the game.

“You expect everyone to step up and have a little extra offensive jump in your step and we didn’t see that,” he said. “We were content just backing up. Anytime that you put the puck on net in a close game, it’s a good shot and we just didn’t do that.”

Spillane added, “I guess if you’re going to have a bad game it’s better to have it this week than next week. We still have an opportunity to play a good team on Thursday. If we come out and play a good solid hockey game, we’ll go into the tournament feeling comfortable.”

Thursday night, Hockomock League rivals Franklin and No. 24 Canton will face-off for the third time this season in the consolation game at 6 p.m. and No. 21 Coyle will take on Boston Latin in the nightcap at 8 p.m.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Franklin seniors Mike Patjane and Cam Curley had the chance to be heroes. In the final minute and with a man-advantage, each of the Panthers’ captains had a shot to break the deadlock, but both were robbed by acrobatic saves from Mansfield goalie Rich Shipman in the matchup of Hockomock League rivals Wednesday.

The Hornets’ senior netminder was the game’s standout player. Shipman made 39 saves and earned his team a 2-2 tie against the defending league champions in Wednesday night’s encounter – which did not, however, count toward the league standings -- at the Foxboro Sports Center.

With his team hanging on late in the third period, Shipman went post to post to deny Patjane with a kick save before throwing everything he had in front of Curley as the Panthers leading scorer bore down on the net.

“I thought Shipman played phenomenal,” said Mansfield head coach Rick Anastos, whose team was struggling with illness and, for the second time this season, had a late bounce go against them. “The second goal went off a skate. That sucks. It’s the second time that’s happened to us.”

Franklin head coach Chris Spillane praised the play of both Shipman and his own goalie Devon Maloof (21 saves), but felt that his team did not do enough to cause problems for a top goalie.

“We created a lot of turnovers, but we just didn’t turn them into quality scoring chances,” he explained. “He’s a good goaltender and he made quality stops but with a goalie of that caliber you need to move him post to post and we didn’t do that enough.”

The Panthers (2-1-1) dominated the opening period. Franklin out shot Mansfield 15-4 but was unable to find the back of the net. After Maloof started the second period with a great kick save, Franklin finally got on the board.

Junior forward Troy Donahue fired the Panthers into the lead. Donahue chose to shoot over trying to play a pass back to Dennis Pisani, who had hustled to fill the lane, and he picked the perfect spot over the shoulder of Shipman and just under the crossbar.

The goal sparked Mansfield (1-1-3) into life and the Hornets would play their best period of the game, outshooting Franklin, 14-12.

Mansfield evened things up at 1-1 with 2:19 left in the period. Senior captain Brendan Murphy scored on the rebound of a shot by fellow senior Kevin Flynn. With 34.7 seconds on the clock, Murphy was at it again with a scrappy goal on a loose puck on the edge of the crease. While not a pretty goal, it put Mansfield into the lead heading into the final 15 minutes.

Spillane was disappointed in the type of goals that his team has been giving up in recent games.

“It’s sort of been our nemesis the last couple of games, turning the puck over and giving up goals like that,” he said. “When he made the stop, we didn’t do enough to clear the puck away.”

“We just tried to be more aggressive and to play our system a little better than we did in the first,” noted Anastos about his team’s improvement in the second period. “The kids felt a little more confident about their game and I think that’s what you saw in the second period.”

The third period was all Franklin.

Three minutes into the third Donahue struck for the second time in the game when his shot deflected past Shipman for an unassisted goal to make it 2-2. The Panthers would go on to outshoot Mansfield 14-5 in the period, but could not generate a winning goal.

Spillane said, “You can’t win games when you’re chasing. Under a minute left you need to put the puck in the net and be a hero. There are no heroes in our room tonight.”

Franklin enters its most difficult stretch of the season when it travels to Newburyport on Saturday before hosting Lincoln-Sudbury on Monday night. Mansfield has a road game against league rival Foxborough on Saturday.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Scott Barboza

Scott Barboza joined ESPNBoston.com as a high schools editor/reporter in May 2010. He spent the previous three seasons working in the New England Patriots media relations department after a stint at the Taunton Daily Gazette, where he covered everything from Little League baseball to the Boston Red Sox. The Fall River native is a graduate of Emerson College. He can be reached at sbarboza@espnboston.com.

Brendan C. Hall

Brendan C. Hall joined ESPNBoston.com as a high schools reporter/editor in May 2010, after four years covering high schools for The Boston Globe. The Westminster, Mass. native also served on the Globe's Bruins beat last season. Hall is a graduate of UMass Amherst. He can be reached at bhall@espnboston.com.